FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Trading Down 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)’s share price traded down 5.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $246.72 and last traded at $251.41. 1,189,326 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 1,570,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FDX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas raised FedEx from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.87.

FedEx Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $59.93 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $279.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $276.06 per share, for a total transaction of $91,927.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,927.98. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at $30,984,589.98. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the third quarter valued at about $3,405,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,909 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $12,564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $530,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in FedEx by 137.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 227,965 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $64,133,000 after acquiring an additional 132,036 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About FedEx

FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services.